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IBB CO* ^r DEVIL'S DUST VICTIMS.i^DEN^OF...
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IBB CO* ^r jEgxiO^. /Cond eased fiomSife...
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WRETCHED STATE OF THE SPITALFIELDS "WEAV...
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PAELIAMENTAKY AND FINANCIAL EEFORM. MEET...
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gn , always did, distress nothing before...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Ibb Co* ^R Devil's Dust Victims.I^Den^Of...
I _+ _mnv 12 , 1850 . \ " " _~ T H E NQ RT _J _^ RN _STA R . ¦ _, _OmeTJBEVIL M _^ faV l _* i wi . ....... .. _. , _^ , _- _^ _.- : _^^^—• _-:: _¦¦* : ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ _.. . ' _" : ¦
Ibb Co* ^R Jegxio^. /Cond Eased Fiomsife...
IBB CO * _^ r _jEgxiO _^ . / Cond _eased _fiomSifenH _^ CM * . ) _™ rT AXD EDUCATION , OF THE ' AGES , _*& _£ _, POPULATION OF BUCKS , BER _^ - „*™ msliire and tbe greater part of Ox-In _BucBWS _^ _" ha ve been comparatively high ; rdslm * ei * _* _3 0 f Berkshire and the whole of _roug _hont _*^ been very low . In thefirst-Uts hire _t » - _^ a wee _k bare been earned by flie d . _pL- whilst 8 s . was the maximum rate , e _IffS harvest time , in the greater part of : CCP i _«* mentioned . In aUthe agricultural dis-056 wa' _-es of course vary with the season of ict _W and the work required to be done-, It is e tnril to Xovember that the highest wages are _^ J _^ * _^ y _^ n _^ u THE COI _^ _S _^ _ttoW
i _tnclauMs ww _. _" * " »« " *»¦' _""" * » "" " _meyeveryw reach their maximum . Prom November to n acain the scale of remuneration is comparar _fon- and employment precarious , _partiealariv _^ is the _w hU € r - _""" , tt l' _"» _"ffuen _, sometimes for _sJatn time , great numbers are out of work _, _^ _ting hamshire and Oxfordshire 10 s . 6 d . and Us . a-week , the latter rarely , have been paid J ose at work in the neighbourhood ot the larger j towns . These have since been reduced to 10 s . I % Gd , Taking the wages paid since January r greater portion of the surface of these _aties . 9 s . Cd . is an ample figure at which to place j . average weekly amount . If the reductions _jjdj made and those still contemplated for the
_gander of tbe year be taken into account , the jjge . for the whole year will certainly not exceed a . ifcck . In Berks and "Wilts , even including the her rates paid during harvest times , "the average _tle last nine months will scarcely exceed 8 s reck ; whilst , tnkingthe reductions made and iewp latcd , as in tbe other case , the average for _Trhole year will be but little above 7 s . 6 d . per _^ _Asin u ch as 12 s . a week have bee n earned " _bjw the present harvest in "Wiltshire ; but it must _remembered tbat against the high rates there
a must , in order to get the average , be put the Tlo * v rates of winter , and the time when , longer shorter as it may be , they may receive no wages all , because there is no work to be had . We _stilso bear in mind that when a poor wretch is [ raited for a day , or even half a day , by heavy a from working , his wages are stopped forthe it It is not every employer that deals in this v bv his workmen ; but the majority of the _laa-ers themselves will tell you that this is the _ajier in which they are generally treated .
f ihe earnings of a working man are to be taken indicating the extent to which both he and his lilvcanunand the necessaries and comforts of . what are we to infer as the condition of famij ' whose dependence is here upon 9 s ., and there _n-orn 7 s . Cd . to Ss . a week ? But it may be » ed ihat this is not to be looked upon as their e reliance , inasmuch as the wife and some of children rot nnfrequently , by their labour in [ fields , add considerably to the common stock . [ t is seldom that a woman j except during harvest , ms more than 7 d . a-day , and this even when a m ' s wages may be from 9 s . to 10 s . a week . The lent of their earnings is frequently not more than
a-day , and in some parts of Wilts -women have irked this year , during the harvest , for no more ai 3 * . 6 d . a week . I was informed by one woman , « r _! Mere , in the South-west part of tbat county , it she had worked ten hours a day for od . —that at the r-fte of one halfpenny per hour ! Taking j year round , a woman ' s earnings will notavere 3 s . a week . In Bucks and Oxford , the earnings a man and wife would thus together make 12 s . reek ; in Berks and Wilts , scarcely lis . If this dirionalsum were procured without any countcriling disadvantages—if it were a clear money ia , _-without drawback bf any kind , it should not il eonld not he omitted in our estimate ofa
_jiilyli circumstances . But it is not a gain witht drawback , and the first drawback , is one of pecuniary nature . "When a married woman es to the fields to work , she must leave her ildren at home . In many cases they are _> young to he left by themselves , -when they 'generally left in charge ofa young girl hired for ; purpose . The snm paid to this vicarious mo-; r , who is generally herself a mere child , is from . io Is . per week , in addition to whieh she is fed _d lodged in the house . This is nearly equivalent an addition of two more members to tbe family _, iherefore , the mother works in tbe fields for _ekly wages equal to the maintenance of three ildren for the week , it is , in the first place , in
_iar cases , at the cost of baring two additional _snths to feed . But this is far from being all the advantages attending out-door labour by the mo-Er . One of the worst features attending the stem is the cbeerlessness with wbich it invests e poor man ' s house . On returning from work , read of finding Ms house in order and a meal laforiahly prepared for him , his wife accompanies ra home , * or perhaps arrives after him , when all 5 to be done in Ms presence which should have ei done- for his reception . The result is , that me is made distasteful to him , and he hies to _thfe arest ale-house , where he soon spends tbe ha-Lee of his wife ' s earnings for the week , and also c ~ e of his children , if any of them have been at at .
hi a very large proportion of cases , the wife _reasins at home , attending to duties more approprite to her sex and position , in which case there is io ether test to be bad , unless it be trifling and iifal earnings of one or two of the children . "We ave seen that , in the counties in question , there re about 40 , 000 married couples , who , with their _Mliken , numbering about 120 , 000 , depend exe ' _uively upon agr icultural labour for support . Of te 1 <> , W j mothers , fully one-half stay at home , case being compelled to do so _onaccouiit of the exre * Ee youth of their children , and others , save _rkn their families are somewhat advanced , preerring irom calculation to do so , as being the best
ode of turning their scant ; means to good _ae-• _aat . This may be taken as the case with half the anied couples , who , with their families will JEter about 100 , 000 individuals . So far , therere , as these are concerned , tbe children , in about iesaaae proportion of families , being too young to icaiiythip * to the common stock , there is nothing seio adopt as the test of their condition and the aadard of their comforts but the earnings of the i : knd . Lot ns inquire , now , into the condition a family thus solely dependent upon such wages ice husband has , on the average , received during £ past portion of the current year . I can best _titrate that condit on by one of the numerous
as winch came under my consideration in "Wiltre . The labourer in that ease had bad Ss . a week , i . Le was then only in receipt of 7 s . He had seven udren , the eldest of whom , a girl , was in her ! _* a " iyear . Two of his children had been at a ' mice ' s school , " but they were not then attendfii , simply because he could not afford the id . a lei which had to be paid for their education . To _certain how far be was really incapable , in this _speet , 1 requested him to detail to me the economy p is household for a week , taking his earnings at The following is the substance of the
eonver" _" *& , discarding , for the reader ' s sake , the _poras in which tbe names are given . alien are your wages paid ?— On Saturday ' night , t often only once a fortnight . - tot do VOU do with the money on receiving it ? frit layby my rent , -whieh is " a shitting a week . tai to to the grocer ' s and lay in something for "" 'lay and the rest of the week . I buy a L ' ttle i , of which I get two ounces for six pence . Sugar _tueap , but I cannot afford it . " We sometimes eaten the tea witb a little treacle , but generally ¦ " _¦ _k it _unaweatened .
po yon purchase any butcher meat?—Generally Fa Sunday we buv a bit of bacon . _s-otr much ?—it is seldom that I can afford more pn halt a pound . P ah * a pound amongst nine of you ?—Tes ; it is tamere taste , but we have not even tbat the rest We week . It costs me about five pence . _ftoyonbuy your bread , or make it at home ?—I buy it . "We have not fire enough to make it at _P _"" , OT it would be a great saving to us . i « OToii buy a quantity at once , ora loaf when vou ! «• it ? -Wc buy it as we need it . " are you a gulden attached to jour cottage ?—1 l _je _abont fifteen poles , ior _-nrljich I pay three '"Fence a pole . It is less than the _eishth of an le . - _in-atdo you Taisefromit ?— "We raise some _pokes and
cabbages . ho you raise a sufficient quantity of potatoes to _"^ e jou for the year!— "So , not even if they were fT S 6 and ' J * addition to the potatoes and tbe cabbages f _* jou raise , how much bread do you require f _Har own support , and that of your wife and [ , *» c * ildren for the week ?—We require seven ¦ _^ of bread at least . _"« t is a gallon of bread ?—It is a loaf which _f to wei gh eight pounds eleven ounces , but _^* now- seldom weighs above eight pounds . -Z .- _^ PPly hread to the union seldom make S ?' _"Sfct pouids . " _iirT tlie P _«« of the gallon loaf "—Tenp * ncc . cneaper , 1 _^ _wag > _j _, _{ j _^ _^^ not _$£ L ; _***& ofit . It is often of short weight . _ibtf ™* of bread at tenpenceagallon would _jjj _-ure _sMlhrgs and tenpence , -would it not ?—I 0 lt " would make about that—you ought to et
_» 1 _A _^ 8 seven _S _311063 a " * eek * So , _r _^ _ocre th an ax . . f <* i ? " "Pad five shfflings in bread , and make Js ? . _« want of more by potatoes and cabbages ? _ft > H _* j » . . _Hcte _1 iJlsolne : nione y Ieft _5 _whatdoyondi-with _^ . ar _^ _^^^ g _^ _^ _asidng . For soap _^ 4 _ftf- / or needIes _^ d thread for mending , ' _^ tfivepenceaweek .
Ibb Co* ^R Jegxio^. /Cond Eased Fiomsife...
_quantity and paid readT money When « _" 2 forty who _CiSlS y mdy m ° ne _* - there . _«» How long would a- cwt , serve you' ? 6 ni ! 1 i , _Wf _^ ° _fi , ° _, ther for _two Ss . _^ make Jt \\ m _^ r \ _» ytMng _^ e u _lave ? -We buy a _SiPnl _^^ f terSOmetimes ' which _^ canget from _wff peMy to tenpence a pound . S We are obi p d , of course take the cheapest ; " and reauy , sir , it is sometimes not hardly fit to grease a waggon-with . " _' But your money is already all gone , how do you pay for your butter ?—It is not always thatwe have it , and we can only have it by stinting ourselves in other things . _^ youon n _* t _™ e 8 , _wMch _\ oul _^^ _l-
You have said nothing about your clothing—how do you procure that ?— - But for the high wages we get during the harvest time we could not get it atall . ° How long does the time last when yon get high wages?—About ten weeks , and but for what we tben get I do not know bow we could get on at all . This being the mode in which his weeklv wages were expended , I asked the samo individual to give me an account of bis daily life , including his labour and fare . In reply to my questions on this point he answered , in substance , as follows : — At what hour do you go to work ?—At six in the morning generally iu summer , but I bave gone much earner . In winter time work begins at a later hour .
Do you breakfast at home?—When I do not eo out very early , I generally do . Of what does your breakfast consist?—Principally of bread , and sometimes a little tea . Sometimes , too we have a few potatoes boiled . "When do you dine ?—About twelve . - Of what does your dinner consist f— On the Monday my wife gets a little Sour and makes a pudding , which , with a *? ew potatoes , forms my dinner . Sometimes we have a pudding on other days , but generally our dinner -is bread and potatoes , \ rith now and then a little cabbage . When the family is not large , there may be a bit of bacon left that has not been used on Sunday , but tbat is never the case with us .
You return to work again?—I do , and when I come home at night may have a little tea again , with the bread whicli forms my supper . The tea is never strong with us , but at night itis very weak ; Do your children get tea?— "Wo have not enough for that . " What is their drink?— "Water ; sometimes we get them a little milk . "What is yonr own drink . —Water . Do you never drink beer?—Sever , but when it is given me ; 1 can't afford to buy it . When your dinner consists of bread , potatoes , and water , bave you nothing to season it or make it palatable _t—^ _Nothins * but a little salt butter , and we can only afford that when the bread or potatoes happen not to be very good , or when we are ailing , and our stomachs are a little dainty .
When your bread or potatoes are bad , or your stomachs are dainty , you take as a relis ' j your butter which you said was scarcely fit to grease a waggon with i—We have nothing better to take . Suppose you had nothing but bread to eat , how much would you require to sustain you at work in the course ofthe day ?—Two pounds at least . And how much wonld one of your children require?—About the same . A child , although not at work , will eat as much as a man ; children are always growing , and always ready to eat ; and one does not like to refuse food to them when they want it . 1 would sooner go without myself , than stint my children , if I coSd help it . Then , at the rate of two pounds a day for each , you would require for all about 126 pounds fer the week ?—I suppose about that .
And , as you only get about sixty pounds of bread a week , you have to rely on your potatoes and eabbages , your half-pound of bacoB , and two ounees of tea , to make up for the sixty-six pounds which you cannot get ?—We have nothing else to rely on . Have you enough of these to afford you as much nourishment as there would be in sixty-six pounds of bread ?—Xbt nearly enough . Is what you have stated your manner of living from week to week?—It is when I have work . And -when you have not work , how is it with you ?— " In the winter months we have sometimes scarcely a bit to put in our mouths . "
It may be said that tbe case put is an extreme one . It is the case , however , of nearly one-half of those who " are dependent upon labour in the fields . But it may De said that I have omitted to take into account some little privileges which the labourer has , and which , when he avails himself of them , tend to enhance his comforts . He may keep a pig , for instance , and his employer will sometimes find him straw for it , which , in process of time , will serve as manure for his little garden " . This looks
very well on paper , but that is chiefly all . In the four-counties under consideration the number of labourers keeping pigs is about one in twelve . It is also a striking illustration of the condition of the Labourers , tbat even such of them as do feed a pig , seldom participate in the eating of it . Then we hear a great deal about the coal and clothing clubs , to which I shall hereafter more particularly advert , and the chief merit of -which is , that they tend to render life not pleasant , but barely tolerable to the poor .
The number of schools for which public provision has , to some extent , been made in Wiltshire , is only 68 , being one school for every 3 , 800 of the population . In Oxford the number is only 33 , being but one school for every 4900 of the population . In Berks it is still lower , being only 25 , which gives but one school for every 6 , 200 of the population . The precise number in Bucks is not given ; but giving that county as its proportion the average number of the other three counties , that proportion would be about 36 schools , or one for every 4500 of the population . This will give us for the four counties but 162 schools , or . one for every 4 , 420 of tbeir aggregate population , let us compare this with what is being done elsewhere . The latest
returns which we have in reference to education m Holland are those of 1846 . In that year there were in Holland 3 , 214 schools for a population of about 3 , 857 , 000 souls , being one school for about every 950 of the population . But of this number 639 are returned as " private schools , " and 165 as schools on " special foundation , " leaving 2 , 410 _^ as the number of the " public parish schools . " Now , taking these alone as the schools for which public provision is made , we bave one school for every 1 , 600 of the population . In Prussia , during the same year , the number of elementary and other public schools amounted to upwards of 25 , 000 , whicli for a population of 16 , 000 , 000 gave one school for about every 650 people . The contrast to our own presented by the educational system established on the other side of the Atlantic is still
more striking . In 2 few York , the population of which is about 3 , 000 , 000 , the number of common public schools is about 10 , 600 , being one for every 300 of the population . In Connecticut , again , there is one school for about every 250 ofthe population _* Of Canada I cannot speak with the same degree of exactness , having no returns from the province before me ; but this much I can say from personal knowledge , that in Canada West an ample and a munificent provision has been made for . popular instruction as in most of the states of the Union . As compared , therefore , with the public provision made for education in the four counties in question , we find that that made in Holland is at least three times , that in Prussia nearly seven times , that in _Xew York fourteen times , and that in Connecticut seventeen times as ample as it is in these counties .
Were the schools now existing in the four counties as perfect and efficient as they might be , a great deal of good might be effected by 162 schools , in addition to private institutions , amongst a population of about three-quarters of a million , and extending over an area of . from three to four thousand square miles . But ,, in a great many instances , they are wofully deficient as regards those appliances with which they should be liberally supplied . . Taking a bird's-eye view of a county in its educational aspeet , we find that the combined machinery at work consists of the national schools , British schools , diocesan schools , sometimes connected with ! the National Society , " and at other times not ; endowed schools , private schools , and
the schools of parochial unions . Of these the British and private schools are , generally speaking , the most active and efficient , The national and diocesan schools are , in many cases , perfect in their organisation , adequate in their machinery , and efficient in' their operation . But" both the national and the British schools , wliich are the chief recipients ofthe public money , and particularly the former , are in too many instances deplorably wanting in-what is essential to constitute a good elementary school . Some of the national schools ar ? hut caricatures of a proper educational establishment . Tb say nothing of inadequate accommodation , or of their deficient supply of books , apparatus , & c „ tbey are in the character and
attainments of their teachers lamentabl y behind what they should be . The parochial union schools are invariably connected . with tbe workhouses of the different unions ; their object being the instruction of pauper children , and are In most cases found within the walls of the workhouse . That at Aylesbury is tbe best arranged and the most efficient of any that I have seen , but even its efiiciency cannot date much farther back than a year . But in general the whole scheme is as ill devised as , it is badly esecuted . It presents such a ' wreck , such an aspect of dilapidation throughout , that it looks more like the ruins of . an educational system which had gone irretrievably into decay than like one which purports to be in active operation
Ibb Co* ^R Jegxio^. /Cond Eased Fiomsife...
DEVIL'S DUST VICTIMS . i _^ DEN _^ OF MISERY , IN OLDHAM _ATJD _. MANCHESTEB . In Oldham , many of the coarser operations performed upon the coarsest sorts of cotton are carried on—numerous _maiaare " spinning waste " as it 18 called—that is , ' working np for the commonest purposes the material rejected as refuse by the factories engaged hi producing the finer and medium degrees of goods . The stuff subjected to the operation of these Oldham mills , immortalised by Mr . Ferrand as " Shoddy , " and " Devil ' s dust , " is specially produced in its manufacture ; . ' , The general appearance of the operatives' houses is filthy and smouldering . Airless little back streets and close nasty streets are common ; pieces of _dis'S DUST VICTlMsi _^ _mawa nv
mal waste ground—all covered with wreaths of mud and piles of blackened brick and rubbish—separate the mills , which are often of small dimensions and confined and crowded appearance . The shops canhot be complimented , the few hotels are no better than taverns / and altogether the place , to borrow a musioal simile , seems far under concert pitch . I observed , as I walked up from the railway station , melancholy clusters'of gaunt , dirty , unshorn mei ., Joungingon the pavement . These , I heard , wero principally hatters , a vast number of whom are out of employment . Another feature of the place was the quantity of dogs of all kinds which aboundeddog-races and dog-fights bemg both common among the lowest orders of the inhabitant * . Under the guidance of two intelligent relieving officers , I set out to see some of the charasteristic
manufactures and some of the characteristic population-of the place . It was about noon , and the peoplo were pouring out from the mills on their way home to dinner . I observed that the women almost universally wore silk bandanna handkerchiefs fluttering round their heads . " It has always been so in Oldham , " I was informed . " They would pinch hard rather than go with a plain cap instead of a silk handkerchief . " Presently I overtook two little girls , the eldest not above eightyears of age , eaeh carrying a baby some three or four months old in pick-a-back fashion , the infant being snugly enough wrapped up , and only its head protruding from beneath the cloak of its bearer . These girls , I was informed , were nurses , paid for taking charge of the children while their mothers laboured in the mills . I accosted them .
"So , you have these children to nurse ? What do the mothers pay you ?" " Oh , please sir , they pay us Is . 6 d . a week for each baby . " "And where are you taking them now ?" " Oh , please sir , to their mothers . They come out ofthe mills now , and we carry the babies down to meet them , and the mothers give them suck when they ' re at dinner . " .. _, "And so you take the babiesin the morning , and nurse them all day till ! dihncr-time , and then take them to their mothers ; andthen 'fetch , them back , and at last take them back ' at night ? " ' ,.. " Yes , sir , that's what we do ; but sometimes , you know , the babies bave little sisters , as old as
us , and then they are nursed at home . " The first manufactuiing proc- _'ss which we saw was the cleaning of' * Shcddy . " _TJnlihe any stage of the pn paration of cotton which I had seen , this was carried on in an isolated building , situated in the midst of a piece of doleful-looking waste ground . There was a small steam engine at one extremity , which turned five or six " devils , " or coarse and primitivelooking blowing machines , each being placed in a compartment o ? its own , somewhat like the stall of a stable , and attended by a single guardian , whose business it was to feed the machine withhandfuls of the coarse dirty . cotton . The door was in each case open , or the dust and flying _fibres-from the machine would have rendered the air unbreathable . As It was . I could not but pity the gaunt-looking men who tended the devils . J questioned them , but tbey seemed loath to . complain , admitting , however , that the flying " dust and stuY " gave them pains in the
chest , and terrible hacking coughs and asthma . One of them only remarked , " we don ' t get old men , sir , at this work . " They were paid from 8 s . to 12 s . per week . The refuse of each devil was consigned to the next coarser machine . The product * of the better sort bf machines are wrought up into quilts and coarse sheeting ; those of the next coarser kind are worked into a coarse , paper ; from those of the third coarser kind are spun candlewicks ; tbe product of the lowest sort of devils _~ is the material with which flock beds are stuffed ; and the refuse from these heaps of oily seeds and broken and tanded fibres , inseparably mashed up witb dirt , is sold for manure . Each she J or stall in this concern was let cut for £ 25 a year , tbe landlord finding tho motive power . The engine spun ceaselessly , on , and the _aothmatic labourers , each in his stall , between a heap of impure cotton and the whirling devil , pursued amid the dense and fibre-laden air , his monotonous and unwholesome toil .
From thence we went to visit two factories , in one of which are spun very coarse threads ,-intended for the Indian market ,, and in the other of which-are manufactured candlewicks . ¦ The proprietors of bolh politely ace mpanied me in my rounds . ¦ They had been working men ,-and were , in language , manner , and dress , very much akin to the people they employed . In the _cearse spinning mill—a small airless building—1 found an apparently chronic system of dirt and neglect prevailing . -, The stairs were rickety and filth encrusted , and the drawing and spinning
rooms not only hot , but ; what is worse _^—ehokey and stifling , and reeking with oil . The women employed exhibited , in a palpably exaggerated degree , the unwholesome characteristics of the appearance of < the Manchester mill-workers . They were not so much sallow or pale , as absolutely yellow , and their leanness amounted to something" unpleasant to look at . The mill was of the old construction , and had no means of ventilation . The wages of the people ranged a shilling or two beneath the ' average of the medium Manchester rate .
I afterwards went over two small mills , compartments of which are rented by different individuals . Both were dirty , and constructed in the old-fashioned unventilated style . Understanding that-here and there , scattered in cellars or perched in garrets , were a few old mien who still wove cotton by tbe hand-loom , I requested to be introduced to one of the practi'ioners of this fast expiring trade . "We _accordint-ly descended a narrow flight of area steps , leading beneath the surface ofa mean back street , and discovered two stone paved rooms , dark and squalid ; one of which served for the common apartment ; the other , a mere closet , was almost , entirely occupied by one of the old fashioned treddle loams , in tbe first room was some coarse deal furniture , and one of those low broad beds about a foot above the floor j and coven d with
truckle , which by tlieir shape generally appear intended for accommodating at a pinch perhaps four persons . Two dirty children were lying _= fighting and squalling upon the floor . The woman of the house was a sturdy dame of some sixty years . The man , who was at his work , had a gaunt , skeleton-like face and head , and thin white hair .. By way of beginning the C _' _-nvcrsation , I remarked that the " pegging stick" which he had just laid down — that isi the stick used to jerk the shuttle was beautifully _constructed . I had never seen such another . It was fluted and wreathed , exactly suiting the grasp ofthe fingers and thumb . " ¦ Constmcted I" said the weaver—" constructed , indeed ! Why , man , I did that myself . I wore them hollow'bits in the hard wood with my own flesh , in the long working days of fifteen years . I aye loved to . weave better nor to play in the road . I ' ve not been an idle man , sir . "
Tasked what he paid for his rooms ? The rent forthe two was Is . 9 d . a week . What were his wages ? He was old , and soom ' mut failed now , and with his wife to wind for him , he coulil only get 4 s ., work as hard as he might . They had parish assistance , however ; and , besides , his daughter worked at factory .. : Visiting the ' low Irish quariier , "we first enterid a kitchen , where a haggard man and woman were seated at tea . Above , the ; relieving officer told me , was an old man dying upon bundles of rags on the floor * -De would not consent to be carried to the workhouse , andsohe had 2 s . a week where he was . Upon the floor of tbe kitchen were ranged a number of nicely tied brooms or brushes , made of
fresh-smelling furze , or , as the pcop ' e here call it , " ling , " which grows in abundance on the neighbouring hills , and the cutting and forming of which into besoms constitutes almost the onlv work of the Irish adult population of Oldham . The man before us had , however _, been ainillworker ,: but his chest could not stand the flying cotton dust , so he had to lake to besohimaking instead . It occupied bim , he said , one day to go to the bill , cut the ling , and carry it home ; another day to make the besoms , and the rest ofthe week was . taken up , . with the assistance of three of his children , in hawking them about for sale . Ado 2 en fetched half-a-crown once , hut the price was much lower —not one half that now—so that in good weeks he could only make about four shillings . Two of his
children worked in a factory , which helped them on a little . The worst was , however , tbat , as he heard , they * fl « e to be prevented from cutting ling because of destroying the cover for the grouse . What would become of him , if it was so ,-God only knew . The bread which he and his wife were eating , and npon which they chiefly lived , was made of oatmeal , baked soft , like the cakes called " barley scones" in Scotland , and of heavy and doughy texture . At another house , occupied by an Irish family , which was filled with the sharp , pungent smoke of the refuse ling used for firewood , a man , grimy , unshaven , and ha _' _-f
clad \ and yet who had in his face and proportions the making of a model stalwart Irish peasant , recapitulated the sad rumour that the ling cutting was . to be stopped . He had to walk eight and a half miles for the ling , and carry home as much as he could oh his back . One of the cutters " got a month ( a month's imprisonment ) the other day . Oh , begarra ! but It was hard on the poor the gentry was . " . This man had been . fifteen years residing in Oldham . He came from the county Sligo . "We now proceeded to visit one of the Irish lodging-bouses . 'A description "• ffl . ? _.-- ?" 11 _nearly-serve for all . In a low kitchen , amid some wretched rickety furniture , and pots , pang
Ibb Co* ^R Jegxio^. /Cond Eased Fiomsife...
and broken pfates , was _Ut ' teredhuge heaps of thelin _? _, among which ky- sprawling , as : they" bound it into shape , three _^ or . fpurr strapping young ; men , talking Irish _^ , each , other ,, and to the wretched drabs ol ragged women who were _cowering hytbe fire place . In this room there were two beds " in a back room , a similar manufactory was going in , and in it , among all sorts ot wretched household litter—broken tubs , cracked jars , and p ots full of all manner of filthv slops —was another bed—merelv a' bundle of rags shaken down upon a _^ _ubstratum of the all-pervaded ling . There was a backyard , with an ashpit , reeking oi abominations . ., Up stairs were two little rooms . In one were three or four beds ; in tho other and larger , six I examined the sheetsthey were drab _^ J ; _yX ; Lft , _^ L _..,. _^ i-i . _^ . . _—* : ,
; colour with unmitigated filth . The beds were made up on crazy bedsteads , fastened together with knotted ropes , and sometimes propped with big stones The bed-posts , broken of different heights , sloped hither and thither . It was late ¦ in the day , but the beds had not been made-I question whether they ever are—nor the slops emptied . Sixpence a bed was the nominal price per nijjlit ; ' so that three tramps could , as they often do , sleep together for twopence each ; but the price varies with the influx of lodgers , sometimes sinking to a penny , to a halfpenny , indeed to anything which thepoor creatures have . In tho lower room was a daub of an oil _painting m four compartments , _renresentins four
events m the career of a criminal—the . robbery , the apprehension , the trial , and the : execution . Near it wero paltry prints of the Virgin , and of saints exhibiting burning hearts ; and besides them was a sort of allegorical chart , called ¦• A Railway to Heaven , with a Tunnel through Mo \ ml Cahaiy . " . The lodgers were nearly all hawkers of besoms . The men I had seen working in the house would be next day miles off , upon Saddleworth , gathering fresh materials . Sometimes more than thirtv people ; men and women , slept in the three rooms " which I havo described . " We went over more than a dozen of similar places—some a little better , some a little _worie , than I have described . The owner of each house was always anxious to explain that half of the people wc saw in the low rooms , cowering
round the fire , wretched soddenlikomen and women , were not lodgers , bnt merely " naybours , sure , that conies in to see yez ; " and usually upon our descent from the bedrooms the kitchen would be all but cleared of its occupants . The lowest , most filthy , . most unhealthy , and most wicked locality in Manchester , is called , singularly enough , ''Angel-meadow . " It lies off the Oldbam-road , is full of cellars , and inhabited by prostitutes , their bullies , thieves , cadgers , vagrants , tramps , and , in the very worst sties of filth and darkness , by those unhappy wretches of the "low Irish . " My guide was a sub-inspector of police , an excellent conductor in one respect , but ; disadvantageous in another , seeing that his presence spread panic wherever be went . Many of the people that night visited had , doubtless , ample cause to be nervous touching the presence of one of the guardians of the law . ~
"VVc first went into an ordinary " low lodging house . " The hour , I should state , was about nine o ' clock at night . A stout man , partially undressed , was sitting , nursing a child , upon the bed of the outer ' room , ' and the landlady emerged from the inner apartmen t , whence followed her a great clack of male and female tongues . ! r The woman spoke with profund deference to my coinpauion , and began to assure him that the house uns the best conducted in all Manchester . Meantime we had entered the inner room . It was a small _stiflingly hot place , with a large fire , over which flickered a rush-light , or very small candle , stuck in a greased tin sconce . 'There were ei ght or ten men and women seated on stools and low chairs round the fire .
They had been talking loudl y enough a minute ago , bnt on oilr entrance they became as mute as fishes , staring stolidly into the fire , and only casting furtive glances at my companion , and nodding to each other when his back wns turned . Hot as tho place was , most of thc women had shawls about their heads . They were coarse looking and repulsivemore than ' one with contused and discoloured faces . The meii were of that _eliiss you often . remark in low localities—squalid hulking fellows , with no particular mark of any trade or calling on them . The women were of the worst class of prostitutes , and the men their bullies aiid partners in robberies . The beds up stairs were very much of the class already described as found in the Oldham low
lodging-houses—broken and rickety bedsteads ,. and clothes which were bundles of brown rags . These couches were placed so close that you could only just make your way between them . The regular charge was fourpencc a bed . The landlady stoutly asserted that only two were allowed to sleep in each bed , but as the sexos she was " noways particularlodgers was lodgers , whether , they was men or women . " In the room in wliich * wo stood , and which might be about fourteen feet by twelve , more than a score of filthy vagrants often pigged together , dressed and undressed , sick and well , sober and drunk .
These lodging-houses are under the superintendence of the ' police , and only a certain number of beds arc allowed to be iri a room . ' But tlie law is continually violated . "Shake-downs" are made on' the floor , and threes' and- fours crammed into the same bed . ' - In another lodging-houso my companion suddenly exclaimed to the landlady , " VVliy , here ' s a bed more than you are licensed for , " pointing to a _bundle of straw enclosed in a piece of coarse sacking , and sot upright in a corner . " Guide us a ' , " answered the woman , in . the richest patois of the Canongatc , ' * guide us a ' , what ' s the body havering about ? It's my aid bed , man . Ye wad na haenie sleep on the stanes ? But we ' se remove it , if that be a '; " and so saying she caught up her couch , and trundled it down stairs .
"Where do you generally sleep , " I said . "Oh , just ony gate . It depends on whether the hoosc is full—but or been , or in the passage , or ony gate . " The nominal price of fourpence for a bed I found to be everywhere the same , and the general disposition of the bed-rooms was equally identical . They consist simply of filty unscoured chambers , with stained and discoloured walls , scribbled over with names and foul expressions . Sometimes the plaster had fallen , and lay in , heaps in the corners . There was no article of furniture other than the beds—not even , so far as I saw a chest ., Still the worst of the places was quite weather-tight . _ .. _' - ' .
Wretched State Of The Spitalfields "Weav...
WRETCHED STATE OF THE SPITALFIELDS "WEAVERS . The man was working at ' brown ' silk for umbrellas . His wife worked when she " was able , but she wasinursing a sick child . He had ninde the same work he was then engaged upon at ls _^ a yard not six months ago . He was to have lOd . for it , and he didn ' tknow that there might not be another penny taken off next ti * nc . Weavers were all a-gettlng poorer , and masters all a-getting country houses , llis master had been a-losing _^ terrible , he said , and yet he'd just taken a country mansion . They only give you work just to oblige you , as an act of chanty , and not tb do themselves any goodoh , no ! Works fiteen hours , and often more .
When he knocks off at ni g ht , leaves lights up all around him—many go on till eleven . Allhe knows is , he can't . - They are possessed of greater strength than he is ) he imagines . In the dead of night he can always see one light somewhere-r-some man " on the finish . " Wakes at five , and .. then he can hear the looms going . Low prices arises entirely from competition among the masters . ; The umbrella silk he was ' making would most likely be charged a guinea , ; what would sixpence extra on that be to the purchaser , and yet . that extra sixpence would be three or four shillings a . week to him , and go a long way towards tho rent ? Isn't able to tell exactly what is the cause ofthe _depress sion— " I only know I suffers from it—aye , that I do ! I do ! and have severely for some time , " said the man , striking the silk before , him with , his
clenched fist . "The man that used to make this here is dead , and buried—he died ofthe cholera . I went to sec him buried . Hohad lid . for what I get lOd . What it will be next God only knows , and l m sure I don't care—it can ' t be ! much worse . " ' . 'Mary , " said he , to his wife , as she sat blowing the fire , with the dying ! infant on her lap , "how much leg of beef do we use ?—41 b ., ain't it , in the week , and 31 b . of flonk on Sunday—lucky to get that , too , ch?—and that ' s among half a dozen of us . Now , I should like a piece of roast heof , with the potatoes done under it , but I shall never tilStC that _asain . And yet , "" said he . with a sav ' airo chuckle !
" that there sixpence on this , umbrella would : just doit . But what that ' s to the people ? "What ' s it to them if we starve ? And there _s *' mahy at that game just now , lean tell you . ' If we could depend upon a constancy of work ) " and get a good price , why , we should bo happy men , ; but fm surej don't know whether I shall get any more work when my ' cane ' s ' out . My children I ' m quite ' disheartened about . They must ! turn out in the , world somewhere , butwhere Heaven only knows .. _"' I- often bother myself oyer that—more than my " father bothered himself over mc . What ' s to become of us all—nine thousand of us here—besides _wivos and children—I can ' t say . "
One weaver observed , " never a month passes but wages arc lowered , in some way . or : other . In the work of reduction certain houses take ! tho lead , taking advantage of the least depression to offer the workmen less wages . It ' s useless talking about French goods , Why , wo' ve driven -the : ; French out of the market in umbrellas and parasols— -hut the people aro _a-starvihg while they ' ro a-driving of ' era ! out . ' All the weavers visited expressed the same want of hope—the same doggedness and half-indifference as to : their , fate . All agreed in referring their misery to the spirit of competition on the part of the masters , tho same desire to "outunder . " They all spoke most bitterly of one manufacturer in particular , and attributed to him the ruin of the trade . . ¦*" ! '¦ ' * ' .. ; . . » ; , _. \ _*; _ ,, : . . - /•; . - Wishing to be placed in communication with some of the workmen who were _]& now _* i ( q entertain
Wretched State Of The Spitalfields "Weav...
violent political opinions , I was conducted to a tavern , where soveral of the weavers who advocate _til- c principles ofthe People ' s Charter were in the hab . ' t of assembling . ' 1 foundthe _i'OOm half full and _iu '» _wediatel- * proceeded to explain to theni tho object o . _* " my visit , telling them-that I intended to _makbnott's of whatever they niight ' communicate to me , with a view to publication in the '' ¦ . Morning Chronicle . After a short consultation among . themselves , tbey-ti . -ld me that , in their opinion , the primary cause of . the depression of the prices among the weavers was ihe want of the suffrage . " Wc consider that labour is unrepresented , that the capitalist and the _landlord have it all their own way . Prices have gone down among the weavers „; nion * _^•••¦ nn ; r , ; _^ t _^ _.. _^^ _:,...
since 1824 more than one h . df . The hours of labour have decidedly increased among us , so that we may live . The weavers now generally work one-third longer than formerly , and for much less . ' * "I know two instances , " said one person , " where the weavers havo to work from ten in the morning to twelve at night , and then they only get . meat once a week . The average time for labour before 1824 was ten hours a day , how it is fourteen . In 1824 there were about 14 , 000 hands employed , getting at an average 14 s . 6 d . a week , and now there are 9 , 000 hand & employed , getting atan average only 4 s . ' 9 d . a week , at increased hours Of labour . This depreciation we attribute , not to any decrease in tlie demand for silk goods , b ut to ' foreign and homo competition . We believe that tho foreign
competition brings us into competition with the foreign workman ; and it is impossible for us to compete with him at the present rate of English taxation . h & regards homo competition , wc arc of opinion that , from the ! contiriued desire oh the part of . each trado to undersell the other , and so get ' an extra amount of trade into his own hands , and make a large and rapid fortune thereby / The public , wo are satisfied , do not derive any benefit'from this extreme competition . It is only a few individuals , who are termed by the trade skiighterhouse-menthey alone derive benefit from the system , and the public gain no advantage whatever by the depreciation in our rato of wages . It is our firm conviction that if aftairs continue as at present , the fate of the working man must be pauperism , crime , or death . " ( To be Continued
Paeliamentaky And Financial Eeform. Meet...
PAELIAMENTAKY AND FINANCIAL EEFORM . MEETING AT TniToNDONTAVEttN . One of the most crowded meetings ever held within the walls of the London Tavern took placo on Monday in furtherance of the great cause of Parliamentary and Financial Reform . Long before the appointed hour ( one o ' clock ) the large room'was ' crowded , and the appearance of Sir Joshua Walmsley on the platform was the signal for the most tumultuous cheering .. The immediate objects of the meeting were the statement of accounts ' and an explanation of the plans of ¦ . the association for the year ;! but the entire question of Parliamentary and Financial Reform was most fully entered into by the varioiis _^ ' speakers who' addressed the densely packed anil enthusiastic meeting . Among those who supported Sir J . Walmsley on the platform we observed : Arthur Anderson , Esq ., M . P ., ' William Leaf , Esq ., Samuel Morley , Esq ., David "Williams Wire , Esq ., Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., M . P ., William Arthur Wilkinson , Esq ., William John Hall , Esq .,
Thomas Prout , Esq ., William Williams , Esq ., Apsley Pellatt , Esq ., Edward Miall , Esq ., J . _Grossmith , Esq ., Summers Harford , Esq . ; Robert Russell , Esq , William Pritcliard , Esq ., ( High Bailiff bf Southwark , ) & c , & c . Mr . "T . _; Atkinson , the hon . secretary , read the notice calling the . meeting , which was specially convened to hear the plans of tbe . association for the ! year 1850 developed . The balance-sheet for the year 1849 was next rend , from which it appeared that the receipts during the past year were £ 1 , 980 , and the payments £ 1 , 875 , leaving a balance of upwards of £ 100 in favour ofthe association . The Chairman said he had received _lettei-3 from Mr . Hume , Lord D . Stuart , and Mr . Roebuck , apologising ! for their absence . The latter hon . member had come to town in order to be present , but , unfortunately , ho had beon compelled by some domestic occurrences to go away suddenly , lie had also received a letter from Mi * . Cobden ; which he Would read : —
108 , Westbourne-terrace , Jan . 7 , 1850 . Mr . beak Yi ' Almslet , —I have been confined to the bouse for a couple of days with a cold , and am sorry I can ' t be at your meuting . I am engaged to appear in Buckinghamshire on Wednesday next ( loud cheers . ) , and unless I nurse myself so as to . be well enough to go the Protectionists will say I am afraid . liy the way , what better proof could be bad ofthe necessity of an alteration of our representative system than is to be found in the simple fact that the Protectionist party are claiming to have public opinion on their side in favour of a revival ofthe corn-hiw ? ( Loud laughter . ) ' They tell us to look at the reaction iu the late elections for Kidderminster aud Heading , where a . few hundred men . more or less .
under _influence , returned Protectionists .: Kow , I would aslc ; hoiv many members would tliey return in favour of a bread tax , if the constituencies numbered , as they ought , 10 , 000 voters at least . " ¦ ( Cheers ;) The necessity of placing the ilouse ot Commons more under the influence of the people few will deny ; the only question is how to accomplish it . Lean only say that , whether it be attempted _Sy a direct vote . of . the House of Commons , or by as many as possible of the people aiming themselves . with the 40 s . freehold franchise ; -. hatever plan may be resorted to shall continue to have my bearty support . ( Cheers . ) All I ask of the public is not to delude themselves with the idea that a few Liberal members ofthe House can accomplish anything without the co-operation uf tho great majority of the people out of doors .
And I remain , very truly yours , Sir Joshua Walmsley , M . P . Riciiaed Cobde _* -. He had also received a letter from Dr . Sleigh , formerly a Protectionist , who said : — London , Jan . 5 , 1850 . Deak Sin , —AltllOUdi I have for many years zealously advocated tho principles of protection , as doubtless you are aware ; and although my views remain conscientiously unaltered , yet as ' free trade' is no longer a proposition , but a fact established by tlie laws of our country ,-1 feel it my duty to abandon from this time forth all controversy oil the BUbJGDt—( cheers )—believing that the most judicious course for every Protectionist to adopt is , to use his utmost exertions ; towards the'removal of those burdens wliich oppress the people , so ns to cnaUe them to Mice advantage of tlieir altered position . Moreover , I . consider a restoration of the protection laws utterly hopeless—( cheers )—from the fact that those who are now endeavouring to . ' rekindle thc agitation possess , with very few excep .
tions , neither the spirit to adopt nor the brains to appreciate—( laughter )—the only possible means that could _ati ' ord the remotest chance by which that object could be obtained ; while , by their virtual rejection of tho . only just species of _protce _. tioil , viz : ' Protection for all , or protection for none ' ( which was always my motto ) , they render tolerably apparent that the protection ihey now seek is not so much protection for British industry as protection for British idleness _^ ( Cheer . * . ) Hence , if any one fancies that the protection laws _willbe restored , he may rely on it he is building his ; hopes" on a broken reed , which will only pierce lum the deeper . _TUccouvsa I am now adopting does not , I conccivo , involve any inconsistency on my part , for both publicly and privately , orally and in my publications on protection . I ' always said , ' Whenever free trade becomes the law ofthe land , we must theii havo ' a cheap executive ; tbe burdens of the people must-thenbe removed ; moreover , that whenever . that event . should occur , I would , in that case , advocate as zealously the removal of those burdens as I was then pleading the cause of protection . '
Desiring to act consistently with these predictions and declarations , I am determined tb use my humble ability in the cause of financial reform ; nnd as 1 fear that cannot be obtained without Parliamentary reform , then I say common justice towards the people demands the latter also .- ( Loud cheers . ) Will you , therefore , do me the honour of enrolling my humble name ns a member of your society . I have the honour to be , dear Sir , yours verv faithfully , Yf . Vr . _Sunon _, _M . D . The preliminary business having been disposed of the Chairman addressed the meeting as follows : — Citizens of London , and Gentlemen , —It is nine months since I had thc honour of presiding over a meeting similar to the present , convened in this room . The object of that meeting was to celebrate the birth of the Metropolitan Parliamentary and "Financial
Keform Association . I meet you to-day to congratulate you on the rapid and unexampled success of the movement which yon then so _. cordially supported . Not many months had elapsed after our meeting in this place-before we felt it to be our duty to convene an aggregate _meeting in Drury-lano . Theatre . By this time * it had become evident that the feeling in favour of reform , which had been displayed throughout tho districts of thc . . metropolis , ' pervaded the country at large , and it was therefore resolved to change the name of the association from that of »« Metropolitan * ' ¦ to that of --National . " - Subsequent events have confirmed the wisdom and propriety of this step , and have proved that , when wc
became in name a " national" body we did but anticipate the feeling and wishes of _the-Bj-jtjsh nation _, ( llear , hear . ) Since the great _meeting referred to , the council of tho association have , to the extent' of their limited moans and . the . agencies at their command , taken measures ii " "keeping with the . name they had assumed . Deputations have , amongst other places , visited Northampton , Norwich , Newcastle , ' ' Sunderland , North and South Shields , Carlisle , Paisley , Greenock , Perth , Glasgow , - Aberdeen , "Denbigh , "Wrexham , ' -Stockport ' Southampton , and Edinburgh . In no instancehavo the representatives of the association failed to meet a friendly and enthusiastic reception . Largo and influential-committees have been formed in most of
these places to carry out the objects of the body , fn thc'towiis and cities which have been named , as well as in numerous other places , the friends of representative improvement are ready for action , and will look to this ' assembly for counsel and example . ¦ I think-1 may say ' with truth _^ that the influence which this association has been able to exert has been owing less to any peculiar merit in the plans which have been concocted ; and still less to the rank and talent of the individuals connected with it , than to the circumstance that the country at tho time this , society ' came into . existence , nnd promulgated its scheme of reform , was already convinced of tho necessity ; for the ohan ' ge proposed , ; and ripo fori ' a great' and united movement in ' , its faYour . ( Cheers . ) jln a word , the feeling had not' to be created—it was already _engendered ; and had but to be developed _apd ooneontrated upon _soaie' practical
Paeliamentaky And Financial Eeform. Meet...
proposition . Gentlemen ,, if , when the issue , was doubtful , ' the council of _thd ' association felt it to be their duty to advance ; how nuich more bo , when ttif J bad the unquestionable proof before them tliat the friends of progress in every part of the kingdom were with them . V They were desirous , however , to proceed with discretion , and in concurrence witb the views nnd opinions of men of experience ' and judgment in other parts bf the country , 'ihey accordingly invited a select number of tbeir tried supporters to a preliminary consultation . The _meeting took place on the 20 th of last month , when ,, after mature deliberation , three things were unanimously agreed to - -first , that ' n fund of not less than 410 , 000 should be raised , to be devoted during the t tothe
presenyear . purposes of the association ; secondly , that immediate neasures should be adopted toarouse hy simultaneous meetings the entire country ; and thirdly , that a conference should be convened in London in the month of March _hexfc . ( Cheers . ) What was jointly resolved upon at this consultation the council are determined _toicarry out , and , if possible , accomplish . Of the ability of the council to fulfil tho second aiid third resolutions there can be no doubt , if the first should be realised _^ and of the" praetability ; of doing this , there is no cause for fear . ( Hear . ); Before , however , _roaTriug it general appeal to tho country foi ? _peduniary aid , the council deemed it their duty to set an example of liberality themselves —( cheers , )—aiid also to
convoke this meeting as a " committee of ways and means . " ( Hear ,. hear . ) Not many days will elapse , after the termination of our proceedings here , before a similar appeal will be made to tho -aoxt great town of the empire . ( Cheers . ) A list of those who have contributed tb this fund will be invited to swell that list by additional contributions on the spot ; that it may be known to the world to-mprfqw that this great metropolis , forward ia every work of national philantrophy and commercial enterprise , is foremost also in this great-work of representative regeneration . ( Cheers . ) Gentlemen , it is my confident btlief . that before many months have passed away the expressions of sympathy with us will not be confined to the British Isles . We
have _fellow-subjects in every section , of thfc globe , as virtuous , as ' intelligent , ay , a 8 _diacontented with the present state of things , as ourselves . ( Loud cheers . ) In every essential particular their cause and ours is the same . They are wholly without representation in this country , and in the majority of instances thoir so-called representation in the colonies is a rilere name and a . mockery . . ( Hear , hear . ) They aro burdened beyond their means ; they are tossed from governor to governor and from Minister to Minister , and are the victims and the sport ofthe schemes first- of one theorist and then of another ; they are made to pay inordinately for the gew-gaw pageantry of courts —( cheers )—which are maintained only for the benefit of an idle
and tax-devouring aristocracy and worthless officials . ( Cheers . ) ' Our redemption from class legislation in Great Britain will be their acquisition of responsible self-government abroad . " This they will clearly perceive ; and in this great . homo movement for a real reform of the House of Commons we may reasonably rely upon the effective assistance of our misgoverned fellow-subjects throughout the . / whole British dependencies . ( Cheers . ) Thus , gentlemen , we have bcfore . _us the prospect of an association not national merely , but comprehending in its purposes the polity of the empire . ( Hear , hear . ) The agricultural classes aro fust becoming convinced that they have been duped and misled , and they will soon , cease to put their
faith in squires and landed oligarchs , and will trust only in themselves , and seek relief , not in a restoration of protection , but in fair rents —( hear , )— -in just and equitable leases —( hear , )—in tbe abolition of game laws —( loud cheers , ) - —and a reduction of national expenditure and taxation . Tbey will join your ranks , and be another and important element of strength . The middle classes have thought aiid reasoned themselves out of the fears awakened by politic Home Secretaries , and that portion ofthe press which supports misrule . They are fast learning that the industrious classes are as much the _lov . _t'i' 3 of order and the respecters of property as , themselves . ' ( Hear , hear . ) They are now generally in favour of a large extension of the _suffragr ;
and are to us another element of _strengths To tlie honour and credit of the producing classes let me say , —and I say . it . with feelings ; of . gratitude and thankfulness , —that , without abandonment of tbeir principles , they are willing to be our fellow-labourers in the work of making the scheme which we have propounded the law of the land . They are thus ready to unite with us , because they perceive that they _' will , upon our basis , be assisted by the vigorous and essential co-operation oi large and influential classes of persons , of less extreme political opinions , but equally convinced ofthe absolute necessity of a real parliamentary reform . I take upon me to say that never in our history were elements move mighty combined to effect a peaceful political change . __( Hoar . ) . They will be at command for all practical purposes . They will be
employed for the purification and freedom of counties by the 40 s .. freehold Totes * , for the renovation of boroughs by the £ 10 household register , and the enfranchisement , of compound householders ; and they willbe at command at every election which may take place from this time forth , for the purpose of overthrowing mere party men , and returning real and true reformers . ( Cheers . ) I sit down expressing my hope and belief that this meeting in its objects and its issues will be one of the greatest and most momentous ever convened in the City of London ; but also strong in confidence that whatever may bo the acts by which the proceedings of this day may be characterised , the heart of our country is set upon the achievement of the end . we have in view , and that as purely as our cause is just and patriotic , so surely will our victory be glorious and complete . ( Loud cheers . )
Air . T . Atkinson , the hon . secretary , then read the resolutions referred to by the chairman as having been adopted at a preliminary meeting , held for consulation , at the King ' s Head Tavern , on the 20 th of December last . Mr . S . Morley then rose to move the following resolution : —• " That this meeting , convinced ofthe necessity of a general agitation of the United Kingdom on the question of Parliamentary and Financial Reform , with a view to an early and universal expression of public opinion on that subject , would record its cordial and emphatic approval of the plans proposed by the council of the National Association for that purpose , and pledges itself to render immediate and efficient co-operation . " Ho
had not been so fortunate as to hear the chairman give a detail ofthe _ulaiia wliich were intended to be followed out ; but having every confidence in the integrity of those who conducted the movement , he had no hesitation in saying that he was ready to support them by every means in bis power . If he understood this question aright , it was one which had nothing whatever to do with party politics . ( Cheers . ) lie presumed that they might take the existence- of that institution , as a proof . that the people were beginning to ! think for themselves , and this was the first reason why he had formed a desire to co-operate with them for the object which tho institution was intended to promote . Men throughout the country were shaking themselves loose from
political parties ; they were looking more to measures than men , and he believed _^ he was right in saying that among a large majority of earnest . ' * - formers the return to power of Sir Koberfc Peel would be hailed with the greatest _satisfaction . ( Cheers and disapprobation . ) He had no wish to stir up hostile feelings , but it was right they should come to a thorough understanding on this subject ; and he would appeal to any man who had been lookin _t calmly on whether he-was not right in saying that Lord John Russell ' s aristocratic sympathies were too strong—( cheers)—too strong to enable him fully to appreciate the progress of public opinion on subjects which he chose to think were connected with the- riirhts of his order . ( Cheers . ) While
speaking of the rights of that order , ho would say that they owed much to thc House of Lords —( hear _, hear , )—but he was at the same time prepared to say that perhaps the people of , Engliuid might be led to consider whether or not they were paying too large a price for the maintenance of those rights . ( Hear , hear . ) Any one who had witnessed the sacrifices made by Sir "Robert l _' eol—sacrifices greater than many were able to appreciate—in breaking off from the powerful party with which he was connected , would easily believe that that right lion . baroneS was far better able , or at least far more willing , to read the signs of tho times , and carrying his convictions to their ultimate result , than Lord John
Russell was . ( Cheers . ) Another reason why he-rejoiced in and would support that association was , because he believed it would promote peace at homo and increase tho security of property . ( Hear , hear . ) He was ho alarmist ; he had great'faith in his principles , and had no doubt of tneir ultimate triumph ; but then he saw the great amount of discontent , and he would say of right discontent , on the part of the people , who felt they were oppressed , he wished as a person who had something to lose , to see necessary reforms carried out , not in answer , it mi « ht be , to the infuriated demands _oS his fellowcountrymen , But as a concossiott to justice . ( _CllRrs . ) They had lately heard a voice from Lombard-streetof one who was well qualified to speak
, on _thh subject ; Mr . Samuel Gurney bad-stated in a letter to the public afew weeksago that so _enorr mous was theamount of tho publifiexpenditure , andi so thoroughly were the people taxed to their _iitmOBS ; _endurance , that " m . the event of certain contingencies ; such as a rupture in duv foreirelationsor bad seasons , producing , as they and difficulty , ' there , would be embarrassments , of the most therefore he " argued'that nothing ing _deduction 6 f . ' cxpendituro country in a safe position , , ( that he looked at the question bf anxiety * viewing it in the light of to'direct taxation ; and as a the ' greatest burderi-on those He _wouldgi'oatly rejoico . in the
Gn , Always Did, Distress Nothing Before...
gn , always did , distress nothing before ns but starting kind _^ _jai _. _^ but 9 _^|^ _5 f ' , " 7 " _wouM _^ u _^ g _^ _jp Cheers . ) !* _4 tojtt _^ at _" saTfNj _taxation _n _^ _S _^ _jIfc" _!' . _indixaet - » il _^^| pSp system _, _™ d ¥ _^^^^ _4 "' least a "" j" _" o ] 5 _jw , _?§ 2 £ j' •'" _k _^^ suo _^ , ( B pp « J _^ | always did , distress thing before ns but starting "• it-ri _band , _ ing but * _- ifi « eetf- _S- _** _^ . B wommm _^\ _taxation _^ M % " « . > _f ft _fimliraet _^ _M ( # a _^^ J _^^' _^ p _^ _i
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 12, 1850, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_12011850/page/7/
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